building your girls second story (ripping all your floors out)
by charbrose
Summary: their story was always supposed to end like this, riley and maya together, forever [riyala slow burn]


_a/n: [takes a deep breath] um... so i primarily write for the wrestling fandom and occasionally the show nashville. tbh i don't watch gmw that often, so this doesn't take place during a specific point during the show. just that the gang has already transitioned into high school. ella chapman my oc is cast with sofia carson from the disney channel's original movie adventures in babysitting._

 **~*~building your girls second story~*~**

 **(ripping all your floors out)**

 **pairing: riley matthews/maya hart**

 **summary: their story was always supposed to end like this, riley and maya together, forever**

 **rating: t**

* * *

 _i'm real and i don't feel like boys/i'm real and i don't feel like boys_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

It doesn't happen over night, there's no grand epiphany. No crackling fire, simmering heat, secret confessions. There's just the touch of silken fingers against hers, passing her a paint brush in art; as mundane of an act as there can be. Then it's a warm tilt of raspberry lips. Not thin and boyish, no tip of an imaginary cowboy hat. No ha-hurr or sarcastic 'Bucky McBoing-Boing' or 'Ranger Rick.' There's a stutter, confidence seemingly drained and a hot flush of cheeks.

"Is that a tuna fish sandwich?" Lyrical and light. No hint of a drawl.

Cinnamon. Not crisp and clean. No, it's spicy and deep. A shiver rolls through her thin frame.

"Tuna melt." High pitched and reedy, and she doesn't _not_ sound like that.

A perfectly plucked dark brow is raised. A hint of a dimple peeks through. Raven curls bounce. "Why a tuna melt?" Deep espresso eyes hone in, and there goes her world tilting off its axis. Her skin feels like it's on fire as the blush only grows hotter, and what is happening?

"Uh... It's, um, my Mom," Spilling faster than her brain can keep up and her voice is still high pitched and reedy. "She works at a diner. She'd always have a tuna melt out on the counter when she worked late. Mr. Warren said paint something meaningful. I dunno. Can you please tell me to shut up already?"

"Why? I don't want to tell you to shut up." Warm like Topanga's hot chocolate. "You're following the assignment, aren't you?"

"What did you paint?" Desperate to change the subject. More like desperate to hear her keep talking.

"Roman Reigns' logo. He's a wrestler. He was my Dad's favorite. He got to see him at Madison Square Garden last year before he died of cancer."

"I'm Maya."

"I'm Ella."

 _saw your face, heard your name/gotta get with you_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

There's no more 'you said something to her, now you have to say something to me.' There's no more talk of fires and the heartland. No more 'ha-hurrs' and 'ranger ricks.'

There's only raspberry lips and espresso eyes. There's doodling as Mr. Warren lectures. Conspiratorial looks, notes passed back and forth. Lingering fingers as they enter and leave the classroom. Cheeks flushing, hearts fluttering and skin tingling.

Cinnamon. Every time she breathes, there's the hint of the spice in the air. And as she takes in a deep breath at her locker, there's orange blossom. "PEACHES!" As dramatic as ever and it's like she's this returning war hero.

Golden curls shake as she gives the taller girl a squeeze. "Jeez, Riles, you'd think I returned from war or something? Simmer down. You just saw me yesterday, remember?"

Mauve lips start to tremble and doe eyes go wide. "I know," Shaky and Maya sighs as she gives the brunette's stomach a playful poke. "C'mon, let's go get some lunch. There's..." Espresso eyes flash in her mind's eye and it's hard to hide the smile that she can feel curling her lips. "Someone," Soft and reverent, reaching for the other's hand. "I want you to meet."

They take their trays to the roof of the science building not their usual table in the cafeteria where Lucas, Zay, Farkle and Smackle are. "Here?" Riley asks, confusion reigning on her innocent features.

"This is where I was yesterday when you blew up my phone with like a million texts. It's nice up here. El..." Before she can finish, light and lyrical breaks through, "Maya!"

Gold letters stretched on black cotton temptingly revealing the shape of... _Whoa_ , there's a heady rush hitting Maya like she's never felt. She licks her lips, which are suddenly dry. _Legit Boss_ she reads and her skin's as hot as it's ever been. Cinnamon is there as her feet carry her of their own accord toward twinkling espresso eyes and smiling raspberry lips.

"Legit Boss?"

"Sasha Banks. She's challenging the reigning Women's Champion Charlotte at Summerslam this year. I'm representing until my ultimate fave Bayley finally gets called up from NXT. Who's that?"

Oh... Riley... Right. There's someone I want you to meet. "This is Riley. Riley, this is Ella. We have art with Mr. Warren together."

 _swing a little further, higher/underneath the big top trees/scrape my knees, whatever, uh huh/i'm gonna let them bleed_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

It's so different; her cheeks being cupped by slender hands more reminiscent of her own. Her heart's thrumming against her ribcage, like it's trying to break free from the cavity of her chest. Not because she shouldn't be here or because she's terrified this will ruin everything, but because this is where she's supposed to be and she is not terrified and this is everything. This is everything she's been waiting for ever since she was a little girl and clung to hope with teeth and claws before it was ripped away from her because her father never came home.

" _Maya._.." Spilling from raspberry lips, and has her name _ever_ sounded like that? Like it's beautiful and lyrical and the five letters make up something meaningful?

She knows once Ella's lips touch hers there's no turning back. A delicious tremor rolls through her body. She doesn't want to turn back. She doesn't want to be who she was before. She wants to be something more, something better.

And it's all there, the chance at being something more and something better when Ella's lips press against her own.

 _got no turning back, i'mma flirt with that/get a little closer_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

"You're different," Riley observes, her tone subdued and Maya laughs, bemused expression crossing her face. "Different?" She tucks a strand of golden hair behind her ear. "How?" She swirls the straw in her root beer like always.

"You don't seem like me any more. You seem like you again. But you still seem different at the same time."

"Well, I'm not different. I'm me. Like I always was. Even when you were all crazy in the head and thought I was you."

"Ella Chapman," Zay slides into the chair next to Riley and Lucas takes the chair next to Maya. "She has art with you, right?"

Maya feels her back stiffen as she sits up a little straighter. She doesn't answer right away, swirling her straw once more. Her lips quirk, briefly, as she remembers tasting the raspberry of Ella's lips. And there's light and lyrical, "Hey, you," and cinnamon and a warm smack against her cheek. Her heart speeds up and her pulse thrums.

"I'm a hugger?" A quirked brow and laughter. "Just because Bayley isn't on the main roster yet, doesn't mean I can't represent. Besides my Sasha shirt was dirty." Pouty and suddenly her lap is full of Ella and it's so natural and easy, her just sliding in without any request or pretense of pulling up another chair. Like this happens all the time.

"Thought you had somethin' to say, Babineaux?" Sly as ever and the boy shrinks back, shaking his head negatively and with emphasis.

 _girls like girls like boys do/nothing new_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

 **they don't want none/they lookin' scared/no, they don't really want none**

"What is that?!" Riley shrieks and Maya sighs as she pauses youtube.

She doesn't get wrestling. But she's a sucker for an underdog story and according to Ella this guy AJ Styles is the ultimate underdog. His theme song is the most redneck-y thing Maya's ever heard, but he survived growing up in a trailer park with an alcoholic and abusive father to become one of the greatest wrestlers ever, and he's set to take on John Cena, the poster boy who's been handed everything, so she's in.

"Not what... Who. He's this wrestler, AJ Styles, Ella was talking about him the other day. He's a real underdog. Got the deck stacked against him and everything. His theme song's kinda catchy even if it's super redneck-y, but y'know me, Riles, I'm a sucker for the underdog, so I'm all in."

"Wrestling?" Riley's doe eyes blink like Maya spoke French and the blonde laughs. "Ella's a big fan. Her Dad was and he passed it on to her. It's kinda cool."

"Ella..." Riley repeats the four letters like they're foreign on her tongue. "Maya..." The question doesn't need to be asked, it's practically stenciled into the chocolate of Riley's pupils.

"It's crazy," Flopping down on her bed, wistful smile on her face. "I thought, I dunno, I just assumed... She was just there, handing me a paintbrush and everything was different. She painted a wrestler's logo and didn't make fun of my tuna melt painting. She smells like cinnamon and tastes like raspberries. My heart's always pounding and my skin's always hot. That's what it's like when you're around Ranger Roy, huh?"

"Yeah..." Maya doesn't notice the strain in Riley's voice.

 _stealin' kisses from your misses/does it make you freak out_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

Of course Riley wants to know what it's like. She's only kissed a boy. "Tell me..." Begging and those big doe eyes have always been too much.

"I can't explain it. It's different. Like boys mouths are just different than girls. I dunno." A nonchalant shoulder shrug as she plucks at the fringe of her vest. "It's just something you have to experience. There's no explanation."

"Show me..." Bold and when Maya looks up Riley's making the most exaggerated kissing face and she laughs, reaching to push the other girl's face away. "No good kiss starts off like that. Jeez, Riles, hasn't Friar laid on that good ol' boy charm and swept you off your feet?"

"It just happens, Lucas and I kissing. He walks in the door and we kiss. He leaves and we kiss. He says hello and we kiss. He says goodbye..."

"Oh. My. God. Are you guys sixteen or eighty?! That's not how kissing works. It's not routine and like clockwork. It's spontaneous, it's natural, it's wanting and needing and... Not whatever the hell you and Ranger Roy are doing. Ugh."

"You and Ella..." Riley blinks, head tilted in confusion. "We kiss whenever we want. Sometimes it just happens. Like she'll get paint on her cheek and I'll wipe it off and then we're kissing. When we were walking to gym the other day, it just happened. A kiss isn't part of a routine or because someone's saying hello or walking out a door. It's..."

Suddenly Maya has her hands full of Riley's chocolate locks and she's pulling her head toward her lips. Slow... Like suddenly time is moving at half speed and then pink touches mauve. For an eternity, or at least it feels that way, both pairs of lips are still. And then the blonde moves hers. The brunette follows suit. It's natural, a rhythm that could only exist between the two of them. Soft but sure.

And then, "Riley? Maya?" which breaks them apart and crystalline eyes flash with hurt and confusion.

 _take me to church/i'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies_

 _ellie goulding (originally sung by hozier) -_

"There are these inventions called doors..." Farkle comments dryly but let's Maya through his window nonetheless.

"Am I supposed to ruin everything?" Her thin frame is shaking and her aqua eyes are frazzled. "We were just talking... Riley wanted to know what kissing a girl was like, then she was all Lucas and I kiss whenever he comes in a room and leaves a room and when we say hello and goodbye, and I'm like are you eighty?! Who kisses like that?! Old people... And then I talked about how Ella and I kiss, like spontaneously and whenever, and then her hair was in my hands and..." Sniffling as a hand swipes tears away. "And then my lips were on hers and she was kissing me back and then he was there..."

"Maya..." The boy genius starts but she bats his hand away. "Don't." Her eyes narrow, aqua turning into the blazing blue around a flame. "If you're going to stand there and tell me I don't ruin everything, you can shut your face, Minkus. Because I do. I'm like the opposite of the guy who turns everything to gold. It all turns to trash. Cause that's what I am; trash, and that's what I deserve. Ella..." The name whispered brokenly. "She's not Riley... I thought, I don't know what I thought..."

"You're not trash, Maya, and you never have been. You're worth investing in, just like you were in middle school, and like you are now. No one is perfect. We're all still trying to figure out who we are."

"I know who I am." Slim shoulders shaking as tears spill from aqua eyes. "That's the problem. I know who I am, and I ruined everything. I can't be happy without her. Ella's great, but she's not... _her_. I need her. I don't want to live in Mayaville. I want to move to Rileytown." Whispered between heavy sobs as she's pulled into Farkle's lean frame, gripping his shirt tight, just wanting to feel grounded and not alone.

 _i'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife/offer me that deathless death_

 _\- ellie goulding -_

This was bound to happen... 'do you wanna tangle with me' and now crystalline eyes are boring into hers, staring straight through, leaving her bare. A cut jaw ticking subtly, teeth grinding and he looks like he did when he was about to beat up Farkle's bully in gym class. A shiver rolls down her spine.

"What..."

"Take hold of the reigns and slow your roll, Hop-A-Long." She can't resist, he has the one thing she could always claim as hers, and she has to get at least one dig in. "Riley just wanted to know what it was like. We kissed for like two seconds. Besides, she's head over heels completely in love with you, something that hasn't changed since we met on the subway, by the way, so don't ruin it by being jealous over a stupid kiss."

"I can't just forget..." Lucas starts to say, but Maya quickly interrupts, "Well you need to forget. You need to get out of your own head and realize what's in front of you, Riley Matthews. You hold onto a girl like that with both hands and you don't let go. Why do you think I've never let her out of my sight since we were five? I knew how special she was since we first held hands back in kindergarten."

"Do you..."

"Stop fishing around just because Riley isn't the only girl I've kissed. I'm not some predatory lez all the fuckboys in the locker room warn you about . It was just a dumb two second kiss. Now, hold onto her with both hands or I'll break yours."

 _my church offers no absolutes/she tells me "worship in the bedroom"_

 _ellie goulding -_

This is further than they've ever gone. Skin is touching skin. Mocha painted nails slip under the silk of her bra, and Maya can't help but imagine hesitant, shaking fingers with nails painted cotton candy pink. Her small voice, mauve lips trembling, " _peaches"_ and why?

When the silk left her body she doesn't know, but as raspberry lips kiss the subtle curve of her breast, moving closer to her peaked nipple, the blonde can't stop herself, "Riley."

And everything stops. And yeah, Farkle is so wrong, she does ruin everything.

 _every sunday's getting more bleak/a fresh poison each week_

 _ellie goulding -_

There's no where else for her to go. Her mother – as much as she tries – is hopeless. She can't go to Matthews. Or Topanga. What would she tell either of them? _Hey, guess what? Identity crisis solved! I'm me again, but oh yeah... I just realized I've been in love with your daughter my whole life!_

"Maya?" As soon as Shawn says her name, Maya rushes into his arms. He smells like pine trees, leather and coffee. It's everything she needs right now. His arms engulf her tiny frame easily and the tears just start falling. She can't hold them back, even though she wants to because she hates falling apart. She hates needing and wanting and how all she wants is Riley, but knowing she'll never have her, at least not the way she needs and wants her.

"Everything is ruined." Fractured words escaping body-wracking sobs. "Farkle is wrong. I'm not worth investing in. Everything I touch just becomes trash. I want to punch that stupid Ranger Roy in his perfect Texas ho-down face. He gets to have her and kiss her and hold her, and I'm just stuck here being her best friend, and I hate it. I don't want to be her best friend, I want..." Finally losing steam, and Shawn wipes the last stray tears streaming from her eyes.

"Mini Minkus isn't wrong. Nothing's ruined." A scoff from the tiny blonde, and Shawn just shakes his head as he hugs her once more. "Do what I couldn't do, Maya. I let Angela leave with her Dad. I should've stood my ground and fought, but I didn't. Now she has a husband and a baby on the way. It is what it is, it's too late to go back. It's not too late for you."

"Please, Hunter," Bitter as a sour expression over takes Maya's features. "There's nothing to fight for. Riley isn't giving up a perfect fairytale. Why would she want to? For what? A broken mess that turns everything she touches to trash? Oh yeah, that's a real upgrade."

"You're not a broken mess. Stop saying that. No one's perfect. Not even Riley. But you have a chance to fight for her, don't walk away and wake up ten years later wondering what if. It's not a great feeling, trust me, I know."

 _always gonna steal your thunder/watch me like a dark cloud_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

This was a competition Ranger Rick hadn't signed up for, but Maya didn't care. The worst that could happen is Riley lets her down easy and they continue on the path they set out at five years old.

"Peaches..." As sad as if she was the one whose relationship – if it could even be called that – ended, and Maya just shrugs. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean, it's not like we were together, together. It wasn't like an official thing."

"But you really liked her..." "Yeah, I liked Ella, but I wasn't in love with her. I don't need a movie marathon. Or to go on an adventure. What I need to do is finish my semester project for Mr. Warren. The last thing I need to hear from him is 'ms hart you've lost your voice' again. Ugh."

"I know all I do is paint purple cats but I'll help you."

"Riles you don't need to help me. I'll be fine. I'm always fine."

"As your best friend, it is my sacred best friend duty to help you through this heartache..."

"Heartache?" Lucas is suddenly right there, and Maya fights against her baser instincts, continuing to insist Riley not help her because honestly there is no heartbreak, and she is fine, kinda.

"Ella and Maya..." Maya slaps a hand across her best friend's mouth and flashes a fake smile at Lucas. "You're going to stop talking right now, Sweet Cheeks because this is none of Hop-A-Long's dang flabbit business. Now, I'm going to remove my hand and you're going to say, 'maya, let's walk to mrs. fischer's class because we need to get a good seat for frog dissection day."

When Maya lifts her hand away, Riley nods enthusiastically and says, her tone bright as ever, "Maya, let's walk to Mrs. Fischer's class because we need to a get a good seat for frog dissection day."

And it's totally on purpose that Maya reaches for Riley's hand and slides her fingers through the brunette's so they're holding hands.

 _on the move, collecting numbers/imma take your girl out_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

"You're going where?" Lucas asks as Riley tosses another long sleeve dress onto her bed, shaking her head. "With Maya to see this new display at MOMA. It's Luchador masks. They're sacred wrestling masks from Mexico. It's really cool. That's how Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker got the inspiration for his mask in the Amazing Spiderman."

"And it's taking you this long to decide what to wear? Why does it matter? It's just Maya."

"Just Maya? What does that mean? I don't understand... Maya's not _just_ Maya, she's Maya." An emphasis that makes Lucas' stomach twist and churn, like he's on a roller coaster.

"C'mon, Riles," The familiar slender figure of the petite blonde coming through the bay window. "We're burning daylight. Just because we're going to the Luchador display doesn't mean you have to find a dress that looks like a mask. Anything you pick's going to look great."

Lucas feels bile coat his tongue. He frowns when he notices Maya's dress. Black lace. The back of her bra is visible. The skirt swishes just above her thighs. Her legs are bare. Ankle boots on her feet. When she turns feather charm is hanging between the valley of her pert breasts. Her riot of curls is pulled back from her face and the liquid liner around her eyes brightens their aquamarine hue. Her lips swiped with gloss look as inviting as ever, the dark berry highlighting their shape.

He's about to say something when her voice reaches his ear, soft and reverent, "You look great. Just like I knew you would."

And Riley in her red slip dress with black fringe vest and black knee high boots does look great. They look like they planned this. They look like... He swallows thickly as the brunette kisses his cheek and then slides away and slithers through the window with the blonde, _girlfriends._

 _cliff's edge, you turn me on/you lead me on/you got me on_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

There's a shift in the air, something buzzing, something magnetic... Something Riley's never felt. She and Maya are walking side by side, they're laughing and talking, like always but it's not like always. It's the same but it's not the same. She doesn't know what's happening. But the black against Maya's pale porcelain skin is... _striking._

The feather charm sitting in the valley between her... A deep gulp of air, like she can't breathe, is _tempting._ Curls are starting to slip from the clips pulling them away from her face. There's an urge rushing through... _push them back_ , and her head's spinning.

The berry gloss is _begging_ to be smudged.

"Maya..." Strained and confused, asking for help, begging for what she doesn't know.

"Riley..." And her pulse thrums to a new rhythm because Lucas doesn't say her name like _that_.

 _cliff's edge, where i belong/you got me on/you turn me on/i wanna feel that sea breeze_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

They've been here a million times, side by side at the bay window, knees touching and it's the same but it's different. Riley doesn't want things to change. She wants them to be the same, but this change... This buzzing, this magnetism it's as scary as it is wonderful. She wants to hear her name like that again, like the night Maya said it after the Luchador display when they were walking.

That way, the way Maya said her name is how she wants her name to be said forever. Like it was reverential, like it was beautiful and meaningful and meant everything to someone.

"Do I say your name like that?" Hushed and hopeful, chocolate eyes hiding behind lengthy lashes, shy and curious, heart suspended in her chest.

"Like it means everything?" And how does... A bright giggle because it's stupid to wonder how Maya knows. Of course Maya knows. There isn't anything about her Maya doesn't know.

"You said..." Stopping because the blonde is so close Riley can distinguish all the hues – forest green, sea blue, crystal, peridot – that make up the aquamarine of her eyes, and it makes her heart stutter in her chest, it's amazing. "I've always said your name like that," Breathy against her lips and her pulse thrums like a runaway train.

The shape and the feel and the taste – peaches and cream – of Maya's lips, even if it was only brief, never left Riley's memory. They're so close... Close enough that all she has to do... It's out of her hands because it's Maya, of course, who closes the gap. Lips are sealed against lips. Neither moving, just still, as if they're afraid if they start to move their lips, to kiss, someone will burst through the door or climb through the window or... No one does and the blonde's lips move first. Slow and not steady, stumbling but there's the brunette's moving in the same fashion until they find their rhythm and it's as natural as breathing.

 _i've been crossing all the lines, all the lines/kissed your girls and made you cry, boys_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

"Maya..." Four letters spit bitterly and Riley starts to shake, her bottom lip trembling as she stares into the suddenly unfamiliar crystalline of Lucas' eyes. This isn't what she wanted... She didn't mean to... "I'm sorry," Spills out, chocolate eyes starting to water. "I didn't... It just..." A heavy breath and finally, soft and warm, "She's Maya."

"And who am I?" Barely contained anger, sharp jaw ticking subtly.

"You're Lucas the boy I met on the subway who opened my eyes and changed my world. Maybe not permanently and the way Maya did, but she's Maya and this – what's happened between us – has always been there. It was there the day I grabbed her hand and told my Dad her mom forgot to pick her up again when we were in kindergarten. I don't want to hurt you, that's the last thing I want, but I love her."

"You've always loved her..."

"Not the way you're talking about, not the way you want me to. I love her the way you want me to love you, but I don't. I wish I could. I really do, because hurting you is horrible and I feel sick, like I'm going to throw up, but... Then," Wistful and dreamy, chocolate eyes dancing with wonder and brightness. "I remember what it's like to kiss her," A brief giggle. "To hold her, to play with her hair and just be when we're in the bay window... It's like I've found where I was always supposed to be; not Rileytown, but _home_."

 _we will be everything we that we'd ever need/don't tell me, tell me what i feel/i'm real and i don't feel like boys/i'm real and i don't feel like boys_

 _hayley kiyoko -_

"Oh," Katy says her eyes bright and voice high, nodding like an enthusiastic chihuahua. "It's like an improv... Like when we were trying to get you to stop being Riley!" She claps her hands and Shawn shakes his head, pulling her back down to the couch.

"This isn't an improv Katy. This is real. This is your daughter," He can't help but give Maya a subtle wink and he laughs at the flush of her porcelain cheeks. "Telling you she's in love with her best friend, that her best friend is her girlfriend."

"Don't hate me..." A barely revealed whisper and Katy jumps up, enfolding the blonde into her arms, a fierce kiss to her riot of curls. "Oh, baby girl, no. No, no no, no. I could never hate you. You're everything I could ever want in a daughter. Who you love doesn't matter as long as you're happy. But..." She turns to Riley who has tears in her eyes, sprightly features darkening. "If you hurt her, there won't be a body for your parents to find."

Then bright and happy laughter, as she pulls the brunette into a bone crushing hug, "But I won't have to worry about that. You two were always supposed to be here. And I'm so happy you'll be making my baby girl happy."

 _the very first words/of a lifelong love letter_

 _sara bareilles -_

" _Daddy, this is Maya she's my best friend..."_

"Daddy, this is Maya she's my girlfriend."

"Daddy, this is Maya she's my fiancee."

"Daddy..." Cory shook his head, pressing a finger to Riley's lips. "I know." He can't believe this is happening, that his little girl is getting married. That she's standing in front of him in a white dress with a veil and flowers in her hands.

"Who are you? Where did my Riley go?"

"I never went anywhere. I'm still here, I'll always be here. Now, I get to be..." Giggling and spinning around before sighing blissfully, "Mrs. Riley Matthews-Hart. Daddy, I'm getting married."

"Yes, you are."

 **soundtrack**

 **"girls like girls" by hayley kiyoko**

 **"cliff's edge" by hayley kiyoko**

 **"take me to church" by ellie goulding, originally sung by hozier**

 **"i choose you" by sara bareilles**


End file.
